


You Were Not the Monster That I Knew

by stranger_thanfiction



Series: Stranger Things 30 Day Challenge [14]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Max's point of view with Billy's death, Not Incest, he's awful but she's shook, so I wanted to explore that a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 13:43:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20064985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stranger_thanfiction/pseuds/stranger_thanfiction
Summary: Max wakes up first.





	You Were Not the Monster That I Knew

**Author's Note:**

> Today's prompt was "scene that had me on the edge of my seat", and that would be the entirety of "The Battle of Starcourt." This episode was chock with tension and fear, but the climax was absolutely the best. For today, I'm writing two shorter pieces for this scene because I can't say one was better than the other.  
In this one, I rewrote Billy's death but from Max's perspective because she walks into her brother dying for her friends. Death is hard enough, but reconciling sacrificial death with someone who treated you like shit? Unfathomable.  
As always, kudos and comments are better writing fuel than coffee, and you can always yell at me on my tumblr @modernfeminismtalking. Enjoy!

Max wakes up first.

Her head is throbbing, and he sits up to see another person strewn across the floor, El nowhere to be found. 

_Mike._

She crawls over to him, screaming his name, and he wakes up disoriented. 

Max can see him jerk when he realizes that El isn’t here. She can see his heart drop into his stomach as they look for her, screaming her name.

Max begins to panic and so does Mike, fearing that Billy has her. 

If he has her, she's dead. Billy's just like Neil. No matter what type of strength you have, he'll hurt you. 

They look at each other and run back out of the corridor to see Billy bending over a crying El, the Mindflayer providing a backdrop to worst image of Max’s life. 

Both of the teens freeze and look up to see the rest of the group throwing fireworks at the monster. 

For once, one of Lucas’ dumb ideas worked. 

The fireworks are distracting the monster, but not Billy, whose attention is firmly on El. 

If Max looks closely she can see burns forming on Billy’s skin as both the monster screeches, but it could be the light flickering off the miniature explosions. 

He’s on top of El, wrestling her to the floor, and Mike grabs a nearby pipe to start swinging. 

Max is about to arm herself, too, until she sees Billy freeze.

Billy doesn't have self control, he doesn't know how to stop. Why is he stopping now?

She can see El mouthing words, but she can’t hear them over the fireworks and the screams.

Mike, about to seize the moment, steps to run but is firmly grabbed by Max, who shakes her head. 

“What the fuck?” he screams at her, “he has her!”

Mike’s angry, and his face betrays his desperation. He has tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“He’s going to kill her, Max, I can’t lose her again, Max, I can’t lose her-” he rants but is stopped when Max points back to the action. 

Billy’s body is frozen, but she can see the heaving sobs coming from his chest as El talks to him. 

Max has never seen him shed a tear, even when Neil beat him within an inch of his life back in California, and he's sobbing. 

Billy nods at something she says, and El softly puts her hand on his cheek. 

Mike stops, and nearly drops the pipe, watching his girlfriend with awe and confusion.

Why did he stop?

The fireworks have stopped, and the Mindflayer turns to Billy and El. 

Max wants to yell, she wants to take the pipe and stop Billy from killing her best friend, but her legs have stopped working and her heart is her throat.

She watches the tension bleed out of Billy’s body as he squares his shoulders. He stands up, facing the monster. 

El begins crawling backwards on her hands. Max wants to rush to her best friend, to grab her out of safety, but all she can do is watch in horror. 

An arm squirms out of the monster to grab at El. 

Max’s blood freezes and she can hear Mike frantically screaming over the ringing in her ears.

She watches El cross her arms across her head, the arm too close when Billy intercepts it with his hands. 

Max’s chest is about to burst. 

He’s yelling at the monster, and the monster is screeching right back, sending out more arms to attach themselves to Billy’s chest. 

The pain clearly becomes too much, because Billy’s arms drop. 

He’s still awake, still screaming at his attacker in front of him, when the last arm sinks into his chest. 

His back arches, and Max, El, and Mike watch in horror as the beast drops the teen’s body. 

Max doesn’t know if he’s still alive. 

The monster rears up, as if planning to strike once again. Before it can, it begins to sway as if tranquilized, and it falls. 

It’s silent, for a moment. No one moves, and Max can’t breathe. 

Mike sprints to El and scoops her up in his arms. 

They hold onto each other as if their lives depended on it. 

Max can barely hear them over her heartbeat as she slowly walks towards Billy. 

He’s covered in black blood, and he’s breathing shallowly. 

She crouches down and starts to shake him.

Max is begging him, pleading him to wake up, but his breathing becomes slowed.

“I’m sorry,” he chokes out, and she watches in horror as his body stills. 

His last words were "I'm sorry." If Max wasn't so distraught, she would be mad. 

“Billy!” she screams, and collapses into sobs. 

She can feel El hugging her, petting her hair, telling her it’s alright, but Max can’t feel that it is. 

Max hated her step brother. 

He made her life a living hell; he was sometimes worse than Neil. 

He was an asshole. 

He tried to kill her boyfriend because he’s black. 

He made fun of her at every opportunity. 

And yet, in his last moments, he died protecting her, protecting her friends, and she can't think about what that means.

He was the only monster in her life for the longest time, and he just protected her against the biggest one she's ever faced. 

Max cries harder as Mike and El hurry her out of the collapsing building. 

Billy was the worst person she’s ever met, but she never wanted him to die. 


End file.
